While yesterday’s stage of the Tour de Romandie gently eased the riders into the mountains, today’s parcours was unforgivingly undulating from almost the moment the stage started. Six categorised climbs dotted the 165.7km profile, with the last being the first category La Vue-des-Alpes ahead of a short descent to the finish line in Saint-Imier.
The start of the stage was peppered with attempts to break away, with several groups going on the attack only to be brought back. It wasn’t until 30km had been covered that six riders managed to make a move stick, going on to build a lead of a little more than two minutes over the peloton. This remained the case as the day went on.
As the break splintered as the number of climbs racked up, a hard effort from the peloton brought the last escapee within reach, destroying their two-minute advantage in the space of 5km before making the catch with 20km to go.
From here, it was the GC race that took centre stage, with multiple attacks pulled back and an incredibly fast pace stretching out the bunch. With no splits on the last climb to create time gaps, it was all going to come down to the fight to the finish.
The reduced group fought it out for the win with Italian sprinter Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Victorious) proving the fastest with UAE Team Emirates dominating the top-10.
Stage 3 takes the riders on a hilly circuit course with start and finish in Estavayer (168.7km).
Stage 2 results
Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Victorious) 4:21:42
Patrick Bevin (Israel Start Up Nation) s.t
- Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) s.t
General Classification after Stage 2
1.Rohan Dennis (Ineos Grenadiers) 8:39:48
2.Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) +8’’
3.Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers) +9″
